Feet yet again

I went to the foot clinic this morning wearing my air cast. When the podiatrist took off my dressings, he said, “The ulcer has gotten bigger. I think we need to put your foot in a cast.” A real cast. So, after a while I left the foot clinic with a cast nearly up to my knee. I’m not wild about it (I almost had to slit my jean leg to get my leg out of them) but there seems to be no alternative. As the professor said to me, “We don’t have a diabetic problem any more, it’s a mechanical problem.” Immobilisation is the only alternative.

So, I hobbled home, went to the church drop-in, and then to Tesco’s to pick up stuff for dinner. The bean and ham soup is cooking now, and I’m just sitting down trying to get used to the cast. The bottom of my left foot is pretty sore, with a searing pain every couple of minutes on the left-hand side.

They said to come back in two weeks and they’d look at the bottom of the cast. If it was soaked, or if I was in pain, they’d take the cast off. Otherwise, it’s apt to be on for a month, I think.

I am so depressed I can’t tell you…

6 Responses to “Feet yet again”

  1. skibbley says:

    Hope all this hassle leads to better health and less hassle later.

  2. canadad says:

    Sorry to hear it. I got the cast from my broken metatarsal off last week, but I’m still supposed to use crutches for another 2 weeks. Swells up pretty big over the course of the day.

  3. chantacleer says:

    Sorry to hear about your foot. I am hoping for a speedy healing and recovery. I did not know trying to reach someone by facebook could be so complicated.

  4. chrishansenhome says:

    I finally found you on Facebook using the address you provided. I think that searching for common names like mine or yours doesn’t work as well as searching by email addresses.

  5. am0 says:

    Two weeks seems like a long time to wait with a sore fermenting under a new cast.

    You say it’s a real cast. That makes me think of the plaster casts they use for broken bones. Whenever I had an infection on my leg or foot that required a cast, they used a gel cast. The last one they made used a piece of silver paper fitted over the ulcer, then the moist wrap cast, then a dry sock, then the plaster layer. I was supposed to call if my toes turned blue or purple, a sign it was too tight, so they could replace it.

    I was given an air cast three or four decades ago, but that was for a pulled / partly torn tendon.

  6. chrishansenhome says:

    I am monitoring my temperature–it was 96.6 just now–and that is a good sign. There is no pain in my ankle or foot (which would be a sign of spreading infection). The wound itself is not infected (they take a swab every two weeks). It’s just open. The quack says that it is now not a diabetic problem, it’s a mechanical problem. That is, my foot is flexing too much and there is too much pressure on the ulcer, which is preventing it from closing up.

    I will insist that they cut the cast off for my Installation as Worshipful Master in May, though, if it’s still on.